


Fictober Shorts: That's Politics, Chief

by Lyrishadow



Series: Fictober 2020 Shorts [20]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:41:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27146054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrishadow/pseuds/Lyrishadow
Summary: Prompt 20 Did I ask?Fandom: Mass EffectTitle:  That’s Politics ChiefPairing: Malcolm Shepard/ Ashley WilliamsRating: T
Relationships: Male Shepard/Ashley Williams
Series: Fictober 2020 Shorts [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977133





	Fictober Shorts: That's Politics, Chief

“Did I ask?” Udina was staring at the three of them with a fierce case of politician, not that it made sense to call it that but all Malcolm could see was this small man who liked to have headaches. Right now, of course, they were part of it.  
“No but we are here anyhow.” Malcolm replied, “ Look, Saren is a threat to everything and everyone."  
“You!” Udina turned sharply, his face turning another shade of red as he pointed his finger at Shapard "What were you thinking?"  
"What?" Usually, Malcolm had an answer for everyone, being raised on ships with navy parents he had some sense of when to push authority, and he enjoyed doing it. Udina was something different, though given the theme of the day he had started looking for ways to annoy the guy..  
"You risked your entry into the spectres…" Udina inhaled for a tirade " A dead spectre, a broken beacon and some kind of war…"  
"That was Saren." Anderson stepped in not for the first time on Shepard’s behalf.  
"Fine, Anderson come with me. You.." he obviously couldn’t force himself to say the man’s name "and the rest can meet us at the citadel tower"  
"I hate politicians." Ashley, the newest member of the team for the Normandy was casually leaning on the railing. Malcolm could only agree and hope they could get in edgeways with the council, although it did not look promising.  
"Let’s go." They headed to the tower directly, even ignoring the view. Malcolm shrugged off the feeling people were staring at them.  
"Stall them. Give me more time."  
" Stall the council Garrus, don’t be ridiculous. Your investigation is over.,"  
Malcolm processed that feeling of dread he had every time he saw a Turian. He didn't hate them but he didn’t trust them either. It always felt strange seeing the different species around.  
"Commander, my name is Garrus Vakarian" Garrus was his type of person Malcolm thought, gutsy and determined, willing to talk to the weird humans.  
"Anything you learn that can help us?"  
"No, all his dealings are top secret…" Garrus was irritated, Malcolm guessed by his tone, he couldn’t read Turians at all, and he was definitely not sure it mattered much.  
"Commander, I think the council is waiting for us," Alenko said quietly, reminding them why they were there, as he always did. |  
"Good luck Commander, maybe the council will listen to you." Garrus said as they left him.  
They faced the council and Saren, though how the rogue spectre had an invite was anyone’s guess. It seemed he was on the inside with the Council and nothing short of a miracle would break that. Malcolm felt angry at the situation and the awareness he could fo very little about it.  
When Captain Anderson presented the vision from the beacon, the response was as he had feared - that a non-quantifiable vision was not going to help the situation.  
Saren 1 … truth 0 he thought grimly as they walked away. If only the council had seen Eden Prime. Had seen the dead burned and witnessed that ship. Seen the Geth rip through Jenkins shields.  
Instead, he was in trouble because the beacon exploded. He shook his head amazed since he hardly caused that; they also seemed to be blaming him for the death of Nihlus as if he had anything to do with that either.  
“Why can’t they see the truth?” Ashley asked angrily.  
Malcolm knew she was running through the list of her squad’s names. He had been there on Torfan, and he knew he recalled every one of the lost. What most think he did, what had to be done, was finish the job they started with.  
They took the elevator down to the presidium with a plan to hunt for Garrus and find out what he knew. Malcolm turned to Ashley as they headed towards the Wards.  
“How are you doing?”  
“It is unfair, how they treated you…” Ashley fumed “How they decided things in advance without listening.”  
“I guess that is the politics of it Chief, It is not what I would have wanted.”  
“Sir, is it too much to ask that we get listened to on equal footing?”  
“That.” Malcolm paused, how to answer when he had no answer “I don’t know.”  
“That’s politics Chief,” Kaidan responded ever calm in the face of a challenge, something Malcolm was grateful for on many fronts - he had not even winced at Jenkins’s death but had set about being a good soldier.  
“However, Ashley, how are you doing? I know Eden Prime was a mess.” Malcolm shook his head “Don’t make me send you to Chakwas for a psych evaluation.”  
“Sir, I am okay, I... it’s not easy having my whole unit die, but I understand it wasn’t my fault, and that those Geth and Saren are to blame.”She looked down “It was almost too much when the beacon exploded and knocked you out. We didn’t know if you would be okay.”  
“I’m fine, more or less.” Malcolm still recalled the vision absolutely clearly.  
“Just pissed that Saren is getting away from this.”  
“Well, let’s stop him.” Kaidan added to the conversation “Let’s make sure we have evidence.”  
“Alright. Time to find Garrus and that guy Harken is our first port of contact.”


End file.
